UK100 has submitted a response to the Government’s consultation on the proposed Warm Homes Fund. The consultation explores how loans, blended finance, equity investment and other financial mechanisms could help accelerate the uptake of energy efficiency measures, clean heating and low carbon technologies across homes, communities and businesses.

The submission highlights the important role of local, combined and strategic authorities in coordinating area-based retrofit programmes, supporting consumer engagement, aggregating demand and aligning investment with wider housing, energy and regeneration priorities. It also emphasises the need for long-term policy certainty, adequate capacity support and finance models that work for households, social landlords and local delivery partners.

It outlines key priorities for the proposed Fund:

Recognising the role of local and strategic authorities: Local, combined and strategic authorities are well placed to coordinate neighbourhood-scale retrofit, target support towards fuel poor households and align investment with Local Area Energy Plans, housing strategies and regeneration priorities. The Fund should support these place-based approaches and provide sufficient long-term capacity and delivery funding.

Designing finance to support market growth: Government-backed loans, equity and blended finance can help reduce upfront cost barriers and crowd in private investment. However, public finance will need to absorb a greater share of early-stage risk to support innovative delivery models, build investor confidence and enable market development.

Ensuring support remains affordable and inclusive: Finance alone will not be suitable for all households, particularly those on low incomes or living in harder-to-treat homes. Grant-led and blended finance approaches will continue to be important, alongside strong consumer protections and trusted local support to avoid increasing financial vulnerability.

Supporting area-based and multi-tenure delivery models: Street-by-street and neighbourhood approaches can reduce delivery costs, simplify the customer journey and improve participation rates. Aggregating demand across owner occupiers, social housing and private rented homes can also create more attractive investment opportunities and support shared funding models.

Providing long-term certainty and reducing fragmentation: Stable multi-year funding settlements and clear policy signals are needed to support supply chain investment, workforce development and consumer confidence. The Fund should also align with existing retrofit, infrastructure and local growth programmes to minimise duplication and support more coordinated delivery.

Building local delivery capacity and consumer confidence: Successful deployment will depend on trusted advice, high-quality installations, clear redress mechanisms and stronger consumer engagement. Funding should support programme development, technical expertise, supply chain growth and local delivery capability alongside capital investment.

Overall, UK100 called for continued collaboration with government to ensure the Warm Homes Fund supports place-based delivery, unlocks investment at scale and helps create a stable retrofit market that delivers warmer homes, lower energy bills and wider economic, health and social benefits.